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Xu Mengtao was at the medal awarding ceremony for women's aerial skills in freestyle skiing at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Photographed by Hu Huhu, a reporter from Xinhua News Agency
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In the women's freestyle skiing aerials final of the Beijing Winter Olympics, Chinese team player Xu Mengtao won the championship with the most difficult moves and excellent performance. For this gold medal, the Chinese freestyle skiing aerials team has struggled for 24 years, while Xu Mengtao has insisted on the four Winter Olympics for more than 10 years.
Winning honor for the country and climbing the peak bravely have always been Xu Mengtao's inexhaustible power.
From the moment he entered the national team, Xu Mengtao aimed at the Winter Olympics. He won the sixth place at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, won silver at the Sochi Winter Olympics, and ranked ninth at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics... After many regrets, Xu Mengtao still firmly chose to step on the court again: "It is my mission to fight for gold medals for my country."
After the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, Xu Mengtao made a careful comeback and found that there was still much room for improvement in his physical fitness and other aspects. She worked hard to polish her technical movements and made great efforts to improve her physical strength. With the wind and snow, hundreds of times in the sky; In summer, she went to the playground alone to run circles and practice. In the team's physical competition, Xu Mengtao is far ahead.
Freestyle skiing aerial skill is difficult and dangerous. During the competition, the contestants slide down from the landslide at high speed, take off and soar into the air, complete multiple turns of the horizontal axis and vertical axis, and then land. In 2016, Xu Mengtao broke the anterior cruciate ligament of his left leg and removed nearly 70% of the lateral meniscus of his left knee; After the Pingchang Winter Olympics, she underwent another operation, and 60% of the medial meniscus of her left knee was removed. But she still chose to fight against the injury.
Before the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, Xu Mengtao and his teammates went to the World Cup and won the championship trophy again and again. In the 2021-2022 season, Xu Mengtao, who started from zero points, won two World Cup individual championships, and the number of individual gold medals in the World Cup reached 27, setting a new record.
How can you get the fragrance of plum blossom without a cold bite? So far, Xu Mengtao has won more than 60 medals in the Winter Olympics, the World Championships and the World Cup, as well as 6 World Cup annual championships. Every breakthrough has deeply engraved the name of Chinese athletes in the development history of this sport. "Running in the direction of dreams feels like a car with full fuel, full of power," she said.
Xu Mengtao and generations of Chinese ice and snow athletes have worked hard and worked hard, becoming a vivid portrayal of the spirit of the Beijing Winter Olympics with a big picture in mind, self-confidence and openness, facing difficulties, pursuing excellence and creating a future together.
After being elected as the representative of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Xu Mengtao became more energetic: "Struggle is the most beautiful background of youth. I want to create a wonderful life in the struggle and contribute youth and strength to the motherland and people!"
People's Daily (October 13, 2022, 4th Edition)
